Beyond the Sit-In: Public Space Production and Appropriation in Sudan’s December Revolution, 2018

Abstract

This article reflects on Khartoum’s sit-in space in front of the Army headquarter in Khartoum during Sudan’s Nile Spring. The article explores the public discourses, activities, and space transformation during the sit-in, which lasted fifty-eight days. Through studying the sit-in, we aim to discuss how the Nile Spring has, or has not, transformed the conception of what a public space is by examining the functions and activities of the sit-in space as a territory of political exercise. The methodology underlying this research includes direct and participant observation, a follow-up of the sit-in space activities on various media sources, a literature review, and interviews. The conclusions drawn by this article show how the sit-in space has challenged the current relationship between public space and the political ideology by providing a new example of what a public space is. The sit-in space succeeded in revolutionizing the understanding of how public spaces should be imagined, designed, appropriated, and managed. This inquiry has disclosed the necessity to rethink current planning and urban design processes that restrict democratic activities in public spaces.

Public Space, Public Art, and The Revolution

“…Accordingly, architects and urban planners did not play an active and decisive role in developing and reshaping social, cultural, and political encounters in public spaces and squares. Most of the public spaces were symbolized or appropriated to exhibit the power of the state (Bahreldin, 2021). Public spaces that show otherwise were controlled, prohibited, or regulated.…”

“…Examples include the closure of the "Mefrossh" 2 event in Atanie open space, which was considered by many as a domain of the freedom of public arts and culture, and the shutdown of Aziz Art Center in the "Six of April" park in 2017. Hence, the city is rapidly ceasing to be a space for public interaction or an "anthropological space" (Bahreldin, 2021). For decades, we have observed a phenomenon of fundamental transformation in the structures that deliver and manage urban public spaces in Khartoum.…”

“…Additionally, Khartoum public spaces are highly privatized (Bahreldin, 2005), neglected (Ahmad, 2000;Hamid, 2016), segregated (Al-Karib, 2019) and underdeveloped (Awad, 2018). Therefore, Khartoum has been re-branded by the scarcity of public realm and spaces that accommodate all citizens (Bahreldin, 2021). Consequently, the previously mentioned notions in planning and designing Khartoum public spaces have produced numerous conflicts and struggle of which space was both constituent and a container (Bahreldin, 2020).…”

“…In Khartoum, anyone who can recall the city on April 6th, 2019, and the days afterward, will recollect the hundreds of thousands of people who went outside to gather in a place that was created by themselves. The revolutionary moment triggered by the occupation of the sit-in space in April 2019 was unlike any other protest action which had taken place in Sudan's modern history (Bahreldin, 2021). The occupation of the sitin space has set up a new chapter not only in Sudan's political history but also in how public spaces are defined, produced, and appropriated.…”

“…Such change would not have been possible without all the activities in the "al-Qeyada" 1 sit-in during the "Nile Spring," transforming a space once two parallel one-way streets into one of the most vibrant public spaces in Sudan's history. The sit-in space occupation in Khartoum has enlightened us about a fundamental transformation in the intensity and modalities of the systems that provide and manage urban spaces (Bahreldin, 2021). These types of change are documented globally and, to a lesser extent, in the Sudanese literature.…”